By 2020, we aim to achieve a revenue of Rs.7,500 crore

India has witnessed tremendous development in the construction and real estate industry. Having started 10 years ago, Amrapali Group has seen the highs and lows of this industry and, today, is a leader in the fraternity. With a pan-India presence, delineating the skyline of Noida and other cities, having delivered over 25 world-class projects, and with over 50 projects in the pipeline, the group has made impressive forays into hospitality, healthcare, education, entertainment and FMCG manufacturing. CW speaks to Dr Anil Kumar Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director, Amrapali Group, on landmark and upcoming projects, and more...

Please share come insights on the current real estate market scenario in Noida.
In the NCR region, Noida has better connectivity with all major hubs around the city. From a buyer´s point of view, an affordable house, along with connectivity and basic amenities, is the best kind of crowd-puller for a project to be successful. The hub of activities in the NCR region, Noida has already been in talks for an international airport. Then you have Gautam Budh University, night safari, MNCs hub, etc. All these will push prices, which are still very affordable, a little higher in time to come.

How do you strategise to stay ahead of the competition in the residential segment?
We are one of the largest players in the affordable market segment with maximum inventory in the Noida region. We take pride in timely delivery of our projects. Our precast factory at Kasna gives us an edge over the competition when it comes to delivery and quality of projects. Our Kasna plant is the largest in Asia. We want to meet the basic human need of housing. Our development strategy is all-inclusive, wherein, we are also promoting luxurious projects like Cloud Ville at Silicon City.

What made you foray into verticals of hospitality, healthcare, education, entertainment and FMCG manufacturing?
The diversification of business was driven by the need to create opportunities in far-flung areas of the country. And like realty, these business verticals are also performing well. Being a market leader in the realty sector, it is our responsibility to create jobs and develop the skills of people.

Please tell us about some of your landmark projects. What about upcoming projects on the anvil?
We have completed over 22 projects in India and each one is special to us; with every project, we are creating benchmarks. On a personal level, the projects we delivered in the initial days of Amrapali in a consecutive row - like Amrapali Grand, Amrapali Royal, Amrapali Green, Amrapali Awadh, Amrapali Sapphire - remain even more special to us. Each of our projects has its own USP. For example, we are using precast to develop Verona Heights and Dream Valley. We are already in the process of launching a project that will include 500 villas, where we intend to build one villa per day. We also have a presence in Tier-II and Tier-III cities like Vrindavan, Lucknow, Kochi, Nagpur, Indore, Bhuvneshwar, Bhilai, New Raipur and others.

What are the key elements to make a city smart?
From a developer´s point of view, a smart city has to be energy and resource-efficient. It must be well-connected by roads to key locations and other digital mediums for safety and security. It should retain the essence of a satellite city to promote growth of nearby towns and areas.

Also, with the concept of affordable housing picking up, how do you see Amrapali placed in this segment?
We are market leaders in this segment in India. We recently delivered 12,000 flats in the affordable housing segment and plan to repeat the same this year too. We have already delivered an endless number of flats in the past.

What about the evolving luxury segment in the country?
The luxury segment is also picking up in India; we are witnessing an increase in the number of queries on this front for independent villas, bungalows, penthouses, etc. This segment will grow with time, as we already can see the rise in the number of HNIs and NRIs.

How do you assess trends in advanced building materials and construction practices?
We have imported technologies from Dubai, Germany and Finland.´We are constructing high-rise buildings, which maintain their quality and parameters. We are using different technologies for building, including elematic, technoform, hollow-core slab and steel, among others.

Precast, which we apply in various projects, is the next ´go green´ technology for Indian real estate. This method is non-toxic and environment-friendly as toxins are not involved in the production process, with minimum dust pollution.

You mentioned your precast factory in Kasna, which is now Asia´s largest. How has this helped you?
Precast is the future of realty in India. Building time has reduced drastically. Although it is 10 per cent costlier, the cost is covered by the delivery of projects before time. Currently, we are producing nearing 50 lakh sq ft of building per year and aim to achieve 1.5 crore sq ft of production per year, with which, we can also support other government and PPP model projects as well.

How do you raise funds for your projects and what are your targets?
We raise funds inclusively. By 2020, we aim to achieve a revenue of Rs 7,500 crore. We already have a couple of projects that are self-funded, while others are funded by financial institutions and banks. Recently, we did a partial exit of Rs 900 crore for various institutions.

How has the company´s financial performance been this year? What are your expectations for the next fiscal?
Our performance has been good given the current market scenario. We have maximum number of inventories and many options for our valued buyers; with the coming festive season, we will see a surge in sales. We are already running a campaign for the festive season that will help buyers get more savings. With the easing out of regulations, we will see a good year next fiscal. We are already planning new projects and may use JVs for the same.